Brewers Farm Report: Brevard County Manatees

Each week throughout the regular season, the staff at Reviewing the Brew will be bringing you a comprehensive minor league report about each of the Milwaukee Brewers affiliates. There isn’t much to write home about at the big league level this season (so far) for the Brewers, but Milwaukee does have plenty of exciting prospects off to hot starts throughout their minor league system.

The Brewers affiliate in the Florida State League (Advanced A) is no exception.

The Brevard County Manatees played seven games during the period of May 12-18 and went 2-5 in a rough week. The team was outscored 28-20 in that span and lost three one-run heart-breakers.

Brevard County started the week off with a 5-4 nail-biter over Bradenton but lost the next two to the Marauders before repeating against Tampa. A 2-1 loss to Clearwater closed out the week.

The Manatees’ mark is currently (thru May 18) 16-21, good enough for sixth place in the FSL North Division, six and one-half games behind the Daytona Tortugas. Brevard County is second in the league in home runs (22), stolen bases (46), and OPS (.680).

Individually, Victor Roache is tied for first in home runs (8), first in RBIs (28), and third in OPS (.921). Clint Coulter likewise has eight homers and ranks second in RBIs with 26. Christopher McFarland is runner-up in hits (47) and doubles with ten.

The pitching side is not so bright but there have been some solid performances thus far.

Relievers Preston Gainey (0.57) and Trevor Seidenberger (0.59) both rank in the top-10 in earned run average at the quarter-point of the season. Starting pitcher Hiram Burgos is tied for second with 47 strikeouts.

HITTER OF THE WEEK: Victor Roache, LF

Brevard County outfielder Victor Roache at the plate. Credit and permission from Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography

Roache edges out McFarland by virtue of his .310/.333/.655 performance in 30 trips to the dish. His numbers include a four-hit, two homer, four RBI game in a 7-6 extra-inning loss to Bradenton last Thursday. He also rapped out a double and scored twice in that contest. For the week he was 9-for-29 with four doubles and two homers.

Runners-Up: Paul Eshleman, C; Omar Garcia, CF; and Christopher McFarland, 2B

Eshleman is a one-time winner of the HOTW award and went 7-for-16 last week. Garcia hit .333 in 18 ABs, and McFarland continued his solid season by slashing .407/.484/.481 in 32 plate appearances, including a pair of three-hit games.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Jorge Ortega, RHSP

Ortega pitched twice, including a complete-game seven-hitter in which he allowed two runs (one earned) and whiffed six while losing 2-1. The other start was a six inning affair in which he allowed six hits, one ER, walked a pair and struck out three. For the year he is 3-3 with an ERA of 2.44 and a WHIP of  0.938.

Runners-Up: Kaleb Earls, RHRP and Scott Lieser, RHRP

Earls, 22, pitched in one game and went one and two-thirds, allowing a hit while striking out a pair. The lanky (6’5″, 185#) righty was a 13th round pick by the Brewers in the 2014 MLB Draft of out Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C.

Lieser, 25, pitched in one game and retired all seven batters he faced in two and one-thirds innings. Lieser played his college ball at St. Cloud State University.

UP NEXT:
The Manatees take on a pair of fourth-place clubs this week, playing two against Clearwater to finish up a three-game set, and then traveling across Florida to the Gulf side to take on Fort Myers in a four-game weekend set.